The Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education approved $83,168.25 in bids Oct. 19 to complete a new Gerald Elementary School (GES) bus lane.

The lowest bids were accepted from Gruenloh Excavating ($15,707.50), Jenkins Excavating ($5,873.75) and Cody James Concrete ($62,360) with a 7-0 vote. Jenkins Excavating later opted out of their bid to complete the west-end alternate parking lot.

Peggy Linhardt, secretary to the board, said the bid was awarded to Gruenloh as the next lowest bidder for $6,676.75 to complete the alternate west-end parking lot, bringing the total cost of the project to $83,941.25.

Superintendent Dr. Chuck Garner explained the scope of the project at the September board meeting.

“We have a bus road on campus, but the bus lane would be 430 feet in front of GES that will be designated for bus loading and unloading only,” Garner said.

The goal is to provide a safer environment for students to load and unload buses, while separating parent pickup and drop off locations.

“We have a safe location now on the east end, but can only load and unload one bus at a time,” Garner said. “This way we can do all the buses. This will be easier and safer to stage buses in a line in one lane.”

The scope of the project is to allow for students to exit the building from multiple locations and to ensure easier loading. Parents would be in a separate location from the bus drop off and pickup location.

Buses would enter the lane on the west end of the building just after Old Potosi Road, turning onto a 40 foot driveway. They would exit on the east end of the building from the lane onto Highway 50.